A Fresh Look at Your Organization Can Turn Challenges Into Opportunities

Are you confident you’re heading toward sustainable and positive change? Are you concerned about the effectiveness of your operations and workforce, and if they can keep pace with your growth? 

Reviewing your structure, processes, and systems with an eye toward your strategic vision can help your organization make informed, targeted, and impactful decisions.

Three key ways to uncover opportunities

Many businesses and organizations face uncertainty as competition, tax, and funding structures continue to evolve. Organizations need to be nimble and lean, while operating efficiently through leveraging data, automation, and their workforce to help drive growth.

Start with a 360-degree view of your business. If you’re already feeling stretched, think about external advisors or outsourced accounting services to help fill those gaps while you focus on core strategy. A consultant can not only diagnose issues but can also provide new approaches to address those issues.

Getting a fresh perspective in three key areas ― structure, process, and systems ― can help you thrive now and in the face of new disruptions and business opportunities.

1. Understand the structure required to support your operations

Ask these questions to help determine if your operations are supporting the needs of your mission, strategy, and leadership now and in the future:

• Are managers receiving the training, tools, and information they need to do their work effectively?
• Do they understand their budgets and their spend?
• Do they feel confident managing their people and the work?
• Do they feel they have the right tools and resources to operate efficiently — and do they have the data and information they need to make informed decisions?
• Do managers know who they can turn to if they have questions on financial or human resource matters? Are they able to trust and rely on the support they are receiving from these functions?

People strategy: Filling the skills gap with the right team

If the answer to any of the above is “no,” it’s possible you are experiencing either skills or capacity gaps within your operations functions. 

Ideally, your organization’s operations are serving in both a compliance and risk management role, as well as one of customer support to the rest of the organization. If you’re feeling gaps in either compliance or customer service, it’s likely time to further evaluate and identify where and why those exist — and begin planning to remediate.

Many businesses find outsourcing some or all their business operations can help fill skills gaps in required compliance areas, as well as add capacity, particularly through change and growth. Outsourcing often provides the ability and flexibility to right-size in a way that can grow with you as your needs change.

2. Review key operating processes

Your team is only as effective as the processes they follow and the tools and technology they use. To help understand how effectively and efficiently your team is operating, ask them:

• Do we have documented and well-understood standard operating procedures for executing our work?
• Are we leveraging electronic and auditable system workflows for things like employee onboarding, accounts payable, expense approvals, and signatures on cash disbursements?
• Do sales and billing data flow seamlessly into the financial system of record, and are customers’ accounts receivable aging balances accurate and verifiable?
• Are we storing documentation electronically, in shared and documented locations, or are we still storing paper files?
• Do managers know where to access the reporting data and information they need when they need it?

A “no” answer may indicate manual, inefficient processes, and risks associated with human error, weak controls, lost documentation, and the potential for missed revenues.

3. Modernize your technology systems for efficiency and security 

Updating your technology doesn’t have to be a major undertaking. For some, it may be as simple as converting to a cloud-based version that can be integrated with other platforms. For others, it may require a substantial overhaul.

Automation

Do you use outdated, unintegrated technologies, or have modern tools staff struggle to use effectively? If your workflows aren’t automated and you don’t have data at your fingertips, you should be asking yourself why. 

Today’s business systems — and increasingly, AI-driven tools — make it possible to automate nearly any and all routine data entry tasks, which not only increases efficiency, but lends itself to stronger controls, documentable audit trails, and better data and analytics. Other systems can track a company’s full financial profile, which helps with everything from setting revenue targets to taxes. Your back-office operations can be elevated from paper-pushers and administrative staff to true strategic business partners and analysts.

Cybersecurity

Protecting that technology, including the software your employees are using to work from home, is critical. Hackers, or threat actors, are constantly on the move, using AI and other tactics to hone their attacks. Anti-virus software, employee education, strong passwords, a two-factor identification system, and regular system scans are just some of the cybersecurity techniques available.

Artificial intelligence

AI-powered platforms can go beyond automation by learning patterns in your financial data, predicting cash flow, and identifying cost-saving opportunities. Combined with outsourcing support, these technologies allow your back-office team to shift from manual tasks to strategic analysis, helping leadership make smarter decisions faster.

How CLA can help with operations support

Don’t be afraid to ask critical questions and take a fresh look at your organization. Understanding the root causes of some of the frustrations or concerns can help uncover pathways toward improvement, and CLA can help in a variety of ways:

• A business opportunity assessment can uncover gaps and help you build a roadmap for improvement
• Our consulting and outsourcing services provide accounting, finance, human resources, payroll, and recruitment functions to help build both competency and capacity of your team
• System selection services help document your functional requirements and find the system that effectively meets them
• Digital services can help you harness the power of your data into greater analytics, protect sensitive information, and integrate AI into your day-to-day activities.

Contact Us

Rethink business processes and assess your operations to help uncover new opportunities. Complete the form below to connect with CLA.